Thomas Kingo: Hører til, I høje himle (melody Freu dich sehr) w/ English translation of Hymns on the Passion, bio of Kingo

Promotional video on YouTube for public singing of Kingos passionssalmer at Helligaandskirken [Church of the Holy Spirit], Copenhagen, Friday April 8, 2011.

From YouTube blurb: "Barokkens største danske litterære perle! Kingos passionssalmer fra 1689. Enevældens største salmist."

De 17 salmer:
1) Hører til, I høje himle (Om Jesu lovsang)
2) Over Kedron Jesus træder (Om Jesu sved i urtegården)
3) Sover I? hvor kan I sove ( Om de sovende disciple)
4) Mørket skjuler jorderige (Om den forrådte Jesus)
5) Længe haver Satan spundet (Jesus føres bunden)
6) Ingen højhed, ingen ære (Om St. Peders fald)
7) Vælder ud, i øjne-strømme! (St. Peders tårer og omvendelse)
8) Søde synd, du vellyst-engel (Om Judas, som fortvivler)
9) pengene som Judas slængte (Om pottemagerens ager)
10) Jesus, som skal verden dømme ( Om Jesus i Pilati domhus)
11) Til Herodes Jesus føres (Jesus sendes til Herodes)
12) Se, nu er Pilatus gangen (Barrabas løsgives, Kristus begæres korsfæstet)
13) Vil dog himlen intet tale (Jesus hudstryges, bespottes og tornekrones)
14) Hvordan end Pilatus hinked (Se hvilket menneske)
15) Rettens spir det alt er brækket (Jesus dømmes til at korsfæstes)
16) Kommer I, som vil ledsage (Jesus bær sit kors til Golgatha)
17) Bryder frem, I hule sukke (Om Kristi korsfæstelse, pine og død)
I Den Danske Salmebog findes ca. 50-60 vers ud af originalens 209.

No. 80 in Den Danske Salmebog Online:

Hører til, I høje Himle
Mel.: Jesus, dine dybe vunder
1
Hører til, I høje Himle,
hører til, I englekor!
Hører, o I folk, som vrimle,
som på jordens klode bor!
Høre, hver, som høre kan,
hver, som sans har og forstand!
Alt det, som har ånd og øre,
lave sig nu til at høre!

osv.

English transaltion of the text at http://www.blc.edu/comm/gargy/gargy1/KingosPassionHymns.html [Translation © Mark DeGarmeaux unless noted]

HYMNS ON THE PASSION
which can be used in the congregations during Lent
at the weekly service and on Days of Prayer
according to the custom of each place
Gradual of 1699

THE FIRST WEEK IN LENT
Jesus' Hymn of Praise
HØRER TIL I HØYE HIMLE [8]
tune: Freu dich sehr

1 O ye highest heavens, listen,
Hear the angels' anthem swell!
People without number, listen,
All who on the earth do dwell!
Listen, all who now can hear;
Every heart and mind, draw near;
All with breath and life, draw near Him,
Now prepare yourselves to hear Him.

etc.

Fairly detailed bios of Kingo, including from Dahle, Library of Christian Hymns, on the Wittenberg Trail "an online community for people exploring and confessing the Lutheran faith" ... mention of Kingo in a sermon at Mindekirken in Minneapolis Pastor Jens Arne Dale on Oct. 3, 2004:

We celebrate today’s worship service with a Danish flavor. That’s nothing new to Norwegians. For 400 years Norway was under the rule of Denmark. Sermons were delivered in the Danish language in Norwegian churches. Until 1814 pastors and other officials were sent to Norway from Copenhagen.

Many have judged the Danish time negatively, but the picture is not unambiguous. We received a rich spiritual and cultural heritage from our brother people in the south. For instance, it’s hard to imagine Norwegian church- and Christian life without the hymns of Kingo, Brorson and Grundtvig, just to mention a few. They are all represented on today’s hymn list.

Let’s stop for a moment by Thomas Kingo whose hymn we just sang. How really was this giant writer of hymns who made such an impact also in Norway? Ask one of his enemies, of whom there are not few, and you’ll get to hear that he was a calculating flatterer of the king, an unpredictable hothead, and a skinflint. His friends, however, portrayed him as a humble Christian, a powerful preacher, and a brilliant hymn writer. The words on Alexander Kielland’s grave stone fit for Kingo: Those who knew him, loved him. Those who didn’t love him, didn’t know him.

Kingo himself was painfully aware of his shortcoming. It’s clearly expressed in the hymn we just sang: I’m never free from failure, never though, without God’s grace, I have always sigh and woe, God me always Jesus show. Kingo admits his own failures and sins, but at the same time he experiences himself enveloped by God’s incomprehensible grace. ...

A history is available on line of Kingo Lutheran Church founded by Danish immigrants in the Milwaukee area ... there is also a Kingo Lutheran Church in Fosston, Minn., a town founded by Norwegian immigrants. "The incorporation papers of Fosston were recorded June 8, 1889, by the Register of Deeds in Crookston, the County Seat of Polk County, Minnesota. Fosston was named for Louis Foss (1849–1920), who was an immigrant from the village Nyttingnes in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. Mr. Foss was the founder and owner of Louis Foss & Company, one of the first business to be established in the community. The city of Fosston is reputed to be the adopted hometown of Cordwood Pete, younger brother of famed lumberjack Paul Bunyan." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fosston,_Minnesota

cWikimedia Commons photo of Thomas Kingo (1634-1703) from: J. P. Trap, Berømte Danske Mænd og Kvinder [Famous Danish Men and Women], 1868. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_kingo.jpg